A DAY TRIP TO SATURNA ISLAND
Saturna Island is our favourite of the Canadian Gulf Islands located off the east coast of Vancouver Island, BC. It makes for a peaceful, but spectacular get-away whether as a day trip or a couple of days adventure. Two thirds of Saturna Island are part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and with a population of only 350 full-time residents, there is lots of wilderness and no crowds. The mountainous terrain and spectacular shoreline features make for some very scenic and fun exploration!
BC Ferries ‘Mayne Island Queen’ in Navy Channel – Saturna Island is in the far distance
Getting There
BC Ferries is the easiest way to get to Saturna Island. You can either walk on or take you car, but to make the most of your island visit you are going to need some form of transportation. Depending on the time you sail, it is approximately 1 1/2 hours from Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island to Saturna. You can also get there from the Tsawwassen terminal on the Vancouver mainland. For BC Ferries schedules, click this link: BC Ferries Their are other options for getting to Saturna, including water taxis and float planes. For a complete list check out the Saturna Island Tourism Associations website.
BC Ferries arriving at Lyall Bay on Saturna Island
Food
Saturna Lighthouse Pub
For most of the year, (they are closed for the month of November), a great choice for a place to eat is the Saturna Lighthouse Pub, located right in Lyall Harbour beside the ferry terminal. They offer oceanfront seating and a awesome patio with fabulous views and sunsets. Their menu includes seafood, local lamb & veggie burgers, gluten-free options; local beers on tap and BC wines.
One of the patios at Saturna Island Lighthouse Pub
Saturna Café at the General Store
The Saturna General Store offers most of the grocery items you may need including alcohol. The Saturna Cafe, located in the store, is great place for breakfasts and lunches, which include offerings of very tasty sandwiches and wraps available for sit in or takeout. They also offer Chef created dinners Friday and Saturday nights, but reservations are preferred – they fill up quickly! Licensed indoor and outdoor seating and a garden patio.
Saturna General Store & Cafe
Sage Hayward Vineyards & Feral Goat Bistro
The Sage Hayward Vineyards is a family-owned estate winery on Saturna Island. The Tasting Room offers a selection of their limited-production wines, as does the Feral Goat Bistro where you will find wood fired pizza and other delightful meals inspired by their wines and local Gulf Islands ingredients. The vineyard and the bistro are only open seasonally so check their website before you go.
Sage Hayward Vineyards & Feral Goat Bistro
Check out our post on our visit to the Sage Hayward Vineyard
Accommodations
There are a number of B&B’s on the island, but we stayed at Saturna Lodge, a casually elegant lodge looking over Boot Cove, just minutes from the ferry dock. The lodge began as a Mill Manager’s home in the 1920’s and has been enlarged and renovated into its present day form with 6 rooms, each with a private bath. Three rooms have water-views, a balcony or a patio. We were warmly welcomed by host/owner Laura and our stay included a complimentary gourmet breakfast which we pre-ordered the night before. You can order anything including their awesome breakfast bar which included a fresh scone, boiled egg and selection of cereals and fresh fruit, yogurt etc, to traditional bacon and eggs, or pancakes with a berry compote and whipped cream and even eggs benny…delightful!! While you’re there wander through their beautiful gardens and take a dip in the secluded hot tub under the trees. The lodge is pet friendly too!
Update: The Saturna Lodge has new owners, Sylvia Olsen & Tex McLeod, so offerings may have changed from when this post was written.
For other B&Bs, cottages, camping etc click this link: Saturna Island Tourism Association
Saturna Lodge
Saturna Lodge Gardens & Boot Cove
Things to do
Kayaking
Saturna is a paddlers paradise. If you have your own boat or have the ability to transport rental kayaks, good launch points include Winter Cove, Russell Reef (on East Point Road), Fiddlers Cove and Saturna Beach. Day-trippers can head for Tumbo Island with its walking trail and marsh. Overnighters can utilize the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve campsites on nearby Cabbage Island, or the sites overlooking Narvaez Bay.
Kayaking off East Point
If you would like to rent kayaks or take a kayak tour on Saturna Island, check out: KayakingSkills
Check out our post on a Kayak Circumnavigation of Saturna Island
Kayaker rounding Monarch Head on the southern end of Saturna Island
Biking
If you want to explore by bike, Saturna is awesome. A word of warning though, Saturna has a few good hills to negotiate, but the roads are beautiful and the traffic light. Electric bikes are a great option. If you don’t bring you own bike you can rent one from Saturna Cycle located at the Saturna Point Store. They also offer a bicycle repair service if you have problems with your own bike.
Swimming/Water Activities
Winter Cove Park is the most accessible, family friendly spot on the island with lots of picnic tables. Russell Reef is close by at the Winter Cove end of East Point Road and Veruna Bay is a beautful sandy beach but with limited parking. You can take Harris Road past the Sage Hayward Winery which leads to beautiful Thomson Park and Saturna Beach at the island’s southwest corner. Thompson park was once a farm and still has beautiful pastures, fruit trees and easy access to the water. However, if you plan to swim, be prepared to to brave the cold Pacific waters. Tidal pools are alive with anemones, crabs and starfish and can be found in all three locations.
Saturna Beach
Drives & Hiking
Mount Warburton Pike & Brown Ridge
Mount Warburton Pike (397m/1,303 ft.) is probably the best viewpoint in the Gulf Islands. It is named after a 19th century British explorer who settled on Saturna in 1886. The TV tower at the end of Staples Road marks the start of the spectacular Brown Ridge Nature Trail. The hike is an easy 2-hour return trip along dirt paths. Watch for the resident herd of feral goats!
Amazing views from the top of Mount Warburton Pike
Feral Goats on Brown Ridge
Taylor Point
There is a band of parkland running from the Saturna Vineyard, which is sadly no longer operating and is for sale, past Murder Point and on to the remains of an old stone house and quarry at Taylor Point. Park and walk from the end of Trueworthy Road near the winery.
Sage Hayward Vineyards
Winter Cove
There is a short 1.5km/0.9mi trail that connects this beautiful waterfront park at Saturna’s northwest corner to the open waters of the Strait of Georgia. Boardwalks and footbridges are part of a route that leads through meadows, forest, and marsh before reaching the ocean’s rocky edge at boat passage. This narrow band of water connecting the Straits of Georgia with Winter Cover can become a raging strip of white water when the tides are right.
Picnic area at Winter Cove
Strong Currents flowing into Winter Cover through Boat Passage
East Point
East Point is a must see spot on Saturna Island. There is a light station at East Point which warns ships away from the offshore Boiling Reef, and a couple of short hiking trails around the point. The Trillium Trail will take you out to the old Fog Horn Alarm building and grass meadows at the end of the point, and the Cliffside loop which takes you down on to the rocky shore where there are amazing sandstone formations. It’s lots of fun finding shapes in them.
East point and Boiling Reef is a favourite fishing spot for Orcas, members of J-Pod from May through November, and in fact is the most likely spot in the Gulf Island to find Orcas. You are also very likely to see Dall’s Porpoise, harbour seals and sea lions fishing here as well.
Hiking at East Point – Boiling Reef in the background
Fog Alarm Building at East Point
Amazing Sandstone formations
Interesting sandstone formations in the shape of a fish at East Point
The East Point Lighthouse
Boiling Reef at East Point
Narvaez Bay
At the far eastern end of Narvaez Bay Road, there is a half-hour forest trail through second-growth Douglas firs to picnic grounds and camprounds on a point of land separating Little Bay (aka Smuggler’s Cove) and Echo Bay. A short walk will take you across to Echo Bay, which is appropriately named! There is a more slightly more strenuous trail that veers off the main trail up to Monarch Head.
Kayakers at Narvaez Bay
Echo Bay
Monarch Head
This short 2.4-km loop trail runs off the trail to Narvaez Bay and is a relatively easy walk taking an average of 40 minutes to complete. There are stunning view over Boundary Pass towards the US Gulf Islands.
Monarch Head
Thompson Park
Thompson Park is founded on a tract a land once owned by one of the first homesteaders on Saturna Island. It is also the site of the first post office and ‘Pike’s Landing’, the first general store. Wandering around this beautiful park you will still find remnants of the old homesite including foundations, a row of magnificent century-old locust trees, and fruit trees. There are also picnic tables, a covered picnic area, a disc golf course and a dock at the beach.
Thompson Park
Thompson Park
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